It all has to do with user rankings. Earning dragon points boasts your ranking up after you managed to receive 75 dragon points. Receive a skull point, however, drops a few dragon points lower, depending on how many skull points you received.

Its basically given to anyone who wishes to violates any rules this site has. Those who wish to ignore the rules will be punished with a skull point, doesn't matter if they give a fuck about it. Rules are rules.

But what if they don't care about rankings? It's like you're punishing them with nothing then.

FYI, not too many people here cares about those points, but we have to hand them out becuase that's what mods/sub-mods are supposed to do.

Sub-Zero players are really starting to grind my gears. All I ever see them do any more is:

ice clone, ice ball, slide, air ice clone, rinse and repeat.

Am I the only one experiencing this?

I don't know where else to post this...seems like the most suitable thread. Didn't want to come off the wrong way here, because this is my favorite game ever and i've spent more time playing it then any person should. However, it's honestly getting depressing logging onto the MK servers everyday, especially recently...only to find that 90% of the matches will encounter some form of awful delay/lag/delayed input response/etc.....

I have tried many things to combat this. I even bought myself a new modem, got some advice on enhancing my own connection to give myself the best shot at smooth fighting, and invested in my network. I try to play it on other people's systems to see if the experience improves....but it doesn't. The experience online is downright pitiful. I throw in other fighting games just to make sure i'm not losing my mind and it isn't my own connection issues letting me down, and those other games work perfectly fine, I experience no lag whatsoever. Then I pop in MK, and I can barely get in 1 fight without feeling like I wasted my time getting good at a game I can't play online or have any fun playing with anyone outside of my home. It continues to boggle my mind how some companies seem to have no problem with putting together stable gaming networks/servers, and some seem to be mystified at how to maintain even a decent operation.

I just don't understand why this doesn't seem to be more of a glaring issue to those that frequent this site. Am I missing something? Is there some kind of manual fix that everyone learned that I didn't catch? I mean the experience at this point makes me turn off the game out of frustration. I can't even enjoy what I sank my hard earned money (upwards of about $150-$200 by now) for the sole purpose of enjoyment. How can you have fun playing a game that doesn't work?

King of the Hill matches might as well not even exist...because maybe 1 out of 100 of them actually lasts longer than 10 minutes without everyone getting dropped. This was such an innovative and amazing feature that really made me fall in love with this game....and it doesn't work at all now. Why hasn't this been addressed and why aren't more people up in arms about this?

As paying customers I think we are entitled to at least an explanation....LIE to me for crying out loud...tell me at least its being worked on even if NRS/WB has no intention of making their online features playable. This seems like a situation where everyone just pretends its not a huge gaping hole in the quality and playability of this product we all spend a ton of time supporting and defending. Its getting out of hand now....the game barely works once you select the xbox live option from the main menu. If a game of king of the hill lasts longer than 10 or 15 minutes im tempted to take a week's paycheck to Atlantic City and put it all into $5 slot machines.

I'm certainly hoping this resolves at some point...maybe it has something to do with the recent weather issues on the east coast, but this online experience for me is trash. I can't pretend like it's not an issue anymore, and frankly its ruining this game for me. End of rant.

Does anyone know why Shang tsung comes before goro in the ladder? Isn't Shang the original boss after goro?

They did the ladder set up the same way MK2's was set up.

In MK2 after you fought everyone, it was Shang Tsung, Kintaro, Shao Kahn in that order, they didn't use the MK1 order.

What was goro's role in mk2?

Feeding marshmallows to penguins.

This is one of the best games ever and certainly the best mk to date but as nothing is perfect
there are some minor problems such as
-Human sub-zero.He was always one of my favorites but I really dont like his fighting style in this one.
-Arcade ladder.I dont think it was that difficult to at least put up another character(maybe liu kang)to fight against the players that pick shang tsung or ultimately to give every character a rival instead of fighting tsung all the time.
-shang tsungs fatalities are tragic.Especially the clown thing is the worst in the entire game.I guess "your soul is mine" didnt cut it.
-And although the story was great why did they kill all these characters?I just hope they bring back kang and tsung in the next mk because as far as it goes with ressurection the way these two died is a bit disturbing and i dont like it.
-Lastly since this is a retelling of the first three games motaro should be an unplayable sub-boss.

Actually, we do track Skull points, mostly from memory, but we do. Generally, one who earns a lot winds up being banned from the site, so while the DPs are meant for fun and games, the Skulls do matter beyond the ranking system. Just thought I should correct that bit.

I agree with you and i wuz woundering why isn dat in the game pretty dumb, i iked Scorpions Lair music. Also i wuz hopeing to see the arena "Lost" frum UMK3 one of my fav stages.

I just got called a "FAG" online cuz I beat someone's main. hehe

the flip-stance button needs to be removed. the idea of making your opponent think you will attack is nice tho but the PROBLEM is that certain stances (back to screen) make some combo's NOT work!? :S serious how stupid is that...

KL back to screen 2, 4 spin nope it will miss :S
but face to screen its succes...

i hope in the future MK all the character will have individual TAUNTS instead of a failed flip-stance button.

I would have perferred L1 (flip stance button) to be a dash button instead. It would be so easier to dash with 1 button instead of tapping forward twice.

Sometimes the combo starts with 1, 3, 2. but when I try to dash I accidentally press Forward 1, 3, 2. The combo always whiffs.

Would be so easy to press 1,3,2 (L1), 1,3,2 (L1), 1,3,2 (L1). For ps3 users.

I only use "flip stance" for fatalities lol.

i get your idea, have the same problem when i dash forward and do 2, 4 but sometimes he does his overhead instead of 2, 4. and than i get 34% punish combo

i wish that the input DELAY and critical EDGE gets left out in the future MK games... it sucks and makes me (most pp) make lots of mistakes unless you train that char. 24/7... its not Noob friendly nooB

and why must KL's combo 2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1 be done so RAPIDLY that its IMPOSSIBLE to do on a ps3/xbox360 pad :S to make me buy that arcade stick right? fu*@ that!

hello everyone......let me just state this for the record.
this is the best MK ever. on par with God of War in my head. i'll never trade either in.

now my rant.

every since the beginning i have bin a loyal fan of Kung lao. as everyone knows he has his trade mark move which is defo his spin.
that has always bin his saving grace outta tight situations like scorpions teleport, sub-zero's ice ball and ground slide.

now after the recent upgrade i find that my man Kung Lao has bin really F****d.
he is so much at a disadvantage now after his spins that its better u dont even think about it when an opponent is too close. what bloody else is he suppose to do. just take the beating???? heck no. its his trade mark move for crying out loud Boon. please change it back to the way it was.....i dont mind that u guys have reduced his damage on almost all his moves now......(which i dont see why wimps were complaining in the first place i've never had a problem beating up kunglao when he's an opponent) but please please please u shdnt b at a disavdvantage if his spin is blocked....push him back like it was before or put an armour on him while he does it. c tahts another annoying thing....when two moves clash and one of em is kung lao spin.....it always results in kung lao spin loosing out. all i get is an unblockable sweep done by the opponent right after his spin,which leads to a massive combo done on me.

its not the same experience as before playing with him....he seems so vulnerable now.

God bless Boon Tobias and all the MK crew :)

oh yeah, and the dude above my post just complained about kung lao chained fist combo...its impossible to connect, talk less link with anything else..... see this is what i'm saying....u cant link any other move of KL with his combos. when u try the hat spins the opponent moves outta range to connect a simple punch....with scorpion and other u can at least two or three of their other moves.....please sort this out. again God bless Boon Tobias and the MK crew :)

I will preface this by saying that I've been a fan of Mortal Kombat since it came out int he early nineties. And although I lost interest in the game after Ultimate MK3, I got reinvigorated with the game with MK: Deadly Alliance and MK9. I will also state that this is the best game of MK to date but with that being said I've noticed some areas of improvement that the game could use to it's characters and other features.

- Baraka
Needs to have an expanded move set to give his gameplay more variety. I also think that Baraka when he executes his shredder move that his arms should wave in an up and down motion like in MK2. He also needs to loose that spinning move, it looks too much like Kung Lao's spinning shield. His alternate costume should be exactly like his primary costume except it should majority black with the white shoulders marks on the wife beater top.
- Cyrax
Needs to become human. And he would also need an expanded move set to give his game more variety. Other than that I don't see too much wrong with his character.
- Ermac
Needs a new code name or alias. It sounds like a Halloween wizard.
- Jade
Needs to loose the stripper outfit. She can look like Bantu or the lead character from the Band of Seven in the Inuyasha anime just in majority green. She also could use an extended move set to give her gameplay more variety. I also think that she should be presented with more of a conservative look such as a guardian of Edenian royalty as is her bio indicates. She also could use a more extensive set of combos with her staff weapon. In MK3, she had the most extensive and well used combo out of all of that roster. It would be nice to have those type of combos in her arsenal again.
- Jax
Jax could use some expansion in his moveset such as more grappling and mixed martial like moves. I also think he could loose the metal arms or at least have them expand or contract somewhat for one of his specialty moves such as a shotgun punch. I also think some of the current grappling and throwning moves he has should be depicted as more realistic. It would seem that when he throws his opponent that they turn into some ragdolls.
- Johnny Cage
Needs that ridiculous looking tattoo removed from his chest. His whole outfit needs to be changed. He looks like a fitness instructor from the eighties.I think he would look more realistic if he had a look similar to Jin Kazama in Tekken with arm tattoos and the same cocky attitude he has currently. It would also be nice if he put on the pair of stunner shades after he wins a match. Don't know the logic behind him fighting in a match with the shades on. It would also be nice if they brought back the old mechanics of his green flame from MK1. I thought it looked better than the knee slapper look he has now. I also think he needs an expanded move set that would give his character's gamplay more variety. He also needs better fatalities. That Oscar trophy to the head fatality looks silly.
- Kabal
Also needs an expanded move set to give his character more variety. I think he Hook Swords could be ultilized more. He can also have a costume similar to the yellow, naginata toting character with the red hair in Samurai Showdown with an alternate costume in a different color scheme. He also needs a better catch phrase than "Let's see what you got."
- Kano
Needs to have an expanded move set to provide more variety. His primary costume needs to have sleeveless undergarments to cover up that chest hair. It would be nice that his costumes be the traditional gi attire that I think Japanese fighter wear in Karate. It can be in the color scheme as the current one in MK9 as well as the original costume in MK1. He also needs to transistion out of his cannonball move better. It looks like he pops out of it in a stiff formation or there seems to be a little bit of lag when he transistions from that move. It could use some smoothing over. He should have a head butte move since he has a metal face. I think the mechanics of his original fatality, the heart taker, could be ultilized more realistically by him taking one of his knives and digging and grinding it in his opponent's chest to rip it out and instead of using his bare hand. He could also use more hand to hand combos.
- Kitana
Needs a better outfit. The stripper costume is getting old and she is supposed to be of Edenian royalty which I thought would dictate a more conservative look. I also think she could use more moves with her steele fans or an expanded move set to provide her character with more of a variety.
- Kung Lao
Needs to loose the teleport move. Too many characters if there are to be new characters implemented will have this feature. He could also use some more Shaolin based move sets to give his character more variety. And his primary costume is Great! I think he should have his alternate the exact same way except with a different color scheme. He could also use some reimagined fatalities. Probably one of the more complete characters in the game though from the looks of it.
- Liu Kang
Needs to loose the teleport move. Not feasible for a Shaolin Monk or White Lotus Society member to teleport. Haven't seen that depicted anywhere. Also he could use a more expanded move set in a Bruce Lee like manner. I also think he could wear different colored sashes around his waist for his primary costume and alternates instead of the mud flaps on the side of his pants. He also can loose the headband. His dragon fatality would be better if he just breathed fire on his opponent instead of eating the torso. Would like to see him execute the original fatality from MK1 as a specialty move.
- Mileena
Needs a revamp of move sets and gameplay or her character should be replaced by another new character.
- Nightwolf
Great and complete character. He could use a little touching up with ultlizing more traditional Native American like weapons such as a circular shield with feathers hanging down from it or a spear. I also like his original fatality from MK3 with the Heaven's Light manuever. Love the knife slashing move!!! That's is his highlighted move good enough to become a Nighwolf signature move. I like his secondary costume, although the primary could be in a different color scheme, either way is cool though.
- Noob Saibot
Needs a new name. It sounds like a robot from the Jetsons. Something like Nightshade would be better sounding. He also could use an expanded move set with more shadow based moves. I think he shadows like move sets should resemble shadows fading instead of oil drippings. It'd look more realistic. I also think he should have the traditional ninja palette swap from MK1 as his primary costume instead of the Dark Vader look.
- Quan Chi
Needs to have an expanded move set to provide more variety to his character's gameplay. Love his primary costume. His secondary costume can be just a different color scheme. He also could use more hand to hand combos. I also love his catch phrase, "You will serve me in the Netherrealm."
- Raiden
Needs a more authoritative look. Something depicting him as an elder or a character with wisdom and godliness. He can look similar to Miroku in the Inuyasha anime with the straw hat funnel shape and black hood covering the sides of his face like in MK1. He also needs a moderate upgrade to his move set ultlizing more electricity and the circulation of electric currents to his move set. I also like the concept of Dark Raiden except I don't like the cape like Superman. Maybe he could be depicted as a dark monk or with the Tibetan or Shaolin like attire. He could also use more electricity circulating around his body like the three villians in "Big Trouble Little China".
- Reptile
Needs to be human. The way he is depicted now, he looks like a turtle mixed with an eagles beak. It would be nice to have him look like the traditional ninja palette swap in MK1 except in green and also have more reptilian based moves such as climbing and somersaulting off the walls of the screens and scenery like Vega in Street fighter. Also the green ball needs to blow his opponent backwards not forward. It looks unnatural to the properties of inertia. Then he needs to get rid of that slide move, it looks too similar to Sub-Zero's slide. I think Reptile should be more acrobatic and discrete lurking in the shadows. His invisiblity move can fade into an invisible state instead of the popping ripple effect he has currently. Also he needs to have an expanded move set giving his character more variety. He also needs a better fighting stance. He looks like he's pop locking when he's about to fight.
- Scorpion
It would be nice if he left the swords off his back. He uses them minimalily and he also looked more realistic with the ninja palette swap from MK1. I also think he could ultilize his harpoon weapon more and have it function as a weapon for impaling. His teleport can leave a blinking hologram imprint of himself. I also think he should have a hell spawn mode similar to the human flame in fantastic four wear his eyes grow completely white and he moves like he's in state of emergency or under the gun with faster and more aggressive like movements. I also like the catch phrases and how he said the phrase with much conviction like in MK1. In MK9 it sounds like he's just kind of reading it off a script instead saying like he had had a bad day.
- Sektor
Needs to be human and an expanded move set with his flames or rockets. Other than that I don't see too much wrong with his character. He's plausible.
- Shang Tsung
Needs an intense expansion of his own specialty moves involving morphing. He's extremely limited with just his morphs and fireball move sets. He could rapid morph while doing a combo. He could also dash back like in MK1 and dash forward for an unsuspecting hit to his opponent. The rainbow fireball doesn't prove to be that effective. I think he could execute the orbital fireballs like he did in MK: Deadly Alliance along with the straightforward projectiles of his flaming skulls. He also should stay young, I think he looks better that way although I don't have a problem with the old Shang Tsung, I just think that the young Shang Tsung looks to be better.
I also would like it if he had a skull cap and a Mandarin robe with a fabric based vest over it like in the old school kung fu flims. I love his mid-taunts and gibberish like phrases when executing moves. That's good stuff.
- Sheeva
Needs an intense revamp of move sets. Her character in my opinion looks to be limited to a female version of Goro/Kintaro. Maybe if she had an expanision of grappling based moves or wrestling like fighting style with an expanded set of hand combos since she has four limbs. Also could have an inclusion of mixed martial arts like moves to her move set to give her character more variety in her gameplay and more impactful damage since she has more muscle mass than the normal sized roster.
- Sindel
Needs to revamp her look. She looks like a cross between the mother character from the Adams Family and a dominatrix. She should look more like the Witch character in "Forbidden Kingdom". Her move set could also use a little tweeking although her moves a pretty good and a vast improvement from the MK3. Maybe she could have more variety of hair based moves that hasn't been really tapped into yet.
- Smoke
Needs to have the palette swap from MK1 in grey without the biker mask and substitue the clothed mask as his primary. Also I think his moveset should involve various expansion of using smoke clouds and stuff to that means. I don't know about the origins of his fighting stance but it looks really odd, like a snake stance but with no snake like movements. He needs to have a more realistic fighting stance. He also needs looser pants in his primary costume. It looks like he has tights on.
- Sonya Blade
Needs to get rid of the upward bicycle kicks. Her leg grab looked better with the legs grabbing her opponent around the neck instead of the waist. She could also do a variation of the move by executing a front flip landing on her opponent's shoulders and then hitting them with a one two combo and then flipping them over with handstanding leg grab. Also she can have a wife beater with kickboxing pants with small hand and foot compact gloves like the mixed martial arts wear and a black belt doubly wrapped around his waist. I say this eventhough her military look is just fine with me. She could also use some more extended hand to hand combos against her opponent.
- Stryker
Very impressive upgrade to his character. I thought he was one of the worst rendered characters in the game in MK3. Now he's a great character. I'd only expand his move set some to involve his nightstick and a electric taser that shoots out electric lobes on his opponent. I love his mid-taunts and catch phrases. They are absoultely fabolous.
- Sub-Zero
Should have the original palette swap from MK1 in dark blue or light blue as primary costume. Also I think when he executes the slide move that his hands should be clasped together in his clinched palms like in MK2. It looks better. Also I would like it if he had an expanded move set from what it is now to keep pace with other and newer characters. His fatality with the head rip could function to where he freezes his opponent's head first making it easier to rip their head off at the end. I also think Sub-Zero should have a similar mechanic and fighting style to Scorpion since their ninjas assassins or whatever you want to call them. I think Sub-Zero should also stay masked. The other unmasked Sub-Zero looks like he's going to a disco party with blocked suspenders and a tight muscle shirt with his hair slicked back with hair gel.
- Kratos
Please retain him for the next MK series with no changes and more moves. Please he a great addition to the roster of MK fighters. Perfect!!!
- Kenshi
I wish Kenshi would have a traditional gi and hakama with the blind fold as his primary costume. Other than that I think he's got one the best fatalities in the game with the sword in the ground manuever he executes. It's is bad ass!!!!
- Rain
I think he needs to have a revamped look to resemble the palette swap of ninja costumes such as the garments from the original MK1 in purple. He also needs a revamp in his move sets as well. And his fatalities need some improvement.
- Skarlett/Freddy Kruger
Need intense revamping of the characters or similar expanision in their move sets and looks. I think another original character could be create in their likeness that would have similar functionality such as a character that moves in and out of the dream world and invades peoples dreams or another female like Kunoichi ninja character that thrives on blood. It would be really good.

But those are some general critiques I've noticed with all of the MK9 roster characters.

while i agree with some of esoteric's expanded gameplay for variety's sake critique such as jax, sheeva and baraka. i dont see any need for any other character to b changed especially with kung lao. dude was perfect until the most recent patch release 1.5 i think. now he has been weakened. plus there's nothing wrong with the idea of a shaolin monk teleporting. otherwise no secret assassin should be able to shoot out ice from his hands.
its all part of the concept of mortal kombat we have all come to know and love (except for the weakening of kung lao)

@chilao
Well, I only say that about Kung Lao because of the multitude of characters that already teleport. You've got Scorpion, Sektor, Cyrax, Cyber Sub-Zero, Quan Chi, Liu Kang, Kung Lao, Rain, Raiden, Smoke, Noob Saibot, Mileena, Kitana (X-Ray), Skarlett, Ermac, Sheeva and Freddy Krueger. That's close to half the roster right there. And just imagine if there were new characters introduced to the game. I'm pretty sure they would have teleportation moves.

And as an avid martial arts film fan, I can't recall not one film that depicted a Shaolin Monk teleporting. I've seen it depicted with ninjas but not monks. It is for this reason that teleportation looks really odd for characters like Liu Kang and Kung Lao, but more so on Liu Kang who traditionally didn't have the move in earlier renders of the Mortal Kombat games.

using your logics with MK is illogical u have good ideas but kung lao's tele-port needs 2stay, he had that since his first appearance in MK.

about liu kang i can agree, he never needed/had it. besides that its a parry with an tele-port animation. i really like the parry but prefer it in a different animation. (no tele-port)

This game sucks. The story is amazing but the gameplay sucks. The new voiceover guy sucks. The moves suck. The 2D sucks. You guys need to build on MK vs DC. Maybe take away some of the cornier moves and add to it. Why go back to 2D? This is 2011, 3D people. I was psyched to get this game, because i LOVE MK vs DC, but it lacks characters, it's a bit shallow. If MK 2011 had the same storyline but played like MK vs DC, it would be perfect. Please don't make these changes permanent. Hardcore fans want to move forward, not backwards. This game changes something fundamental about the gameplay. it's too slow. Streetfighter sucks, the way the "VS" comes up on the screen before the fight and then the "FIGHT" comes up, you guys stole the font from street fighter and it sucks ass. BACK TO FORMULA!!!

lmao

Because 2-D was the original way of playing MK and the fans were hyped about MK going back to 2-D. It will most likely stay. And MK vs. DC sucked donkey cheese by the way.



33 characters. Plenty for the first 3 games of the franchise.